... Henry Dodge

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Author's Preface

Interwoven with the historj^ of the West, the public career of Henry Dodge spans nearly fifty years of military and official life. Rising to the rank of Colonel and from Deputy Sheriff to United States Senator, Henry Dodge lived under the successive jurisdictions of Spain, France, and the United States; while his military and official careers extended over nine of the present States of the Mississippi Valley.

This span of years witnesses vast strides in the development of the West and in the fostering of the democratic spirit. Fifteen States are added to the Union, population quintuples, and the area of the public domain is nearly doubled. Bottomed upon the principles of Jacksonian Democracy, Henry Dodge saw the rising tides of popular government in the forepart of the last century. He bore a part in the enactment of the Compromises of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill; and he was the colleague of such men as Benton, Calhoun, Cass, Clay, Douglas, xii AUTHOR'S PREFACE

and Webster. His legislative record reflects much of the history of the Middle West in the two houses of Congress.

"The names of the Indian fighters, the treaty-makers, the wilderness wanderers, who took the lead in winning and exploring the West, are memorable."* This truly characterizes the record of Colonel Dodge's military career, which winds through two States of the Old Northwest and through six of the States of the Louisiana Purchase. These activities conduced to a fruition of peace, settlement, and the evolution of Territories into Commonwealths.

Henry Dodge saw the domain over which he was appointed Governor in 1836 grow to the magnitude of an empire in population, wealth, and moral resources. This region, embracing within its limits the present States of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota and portions of the Dakotas, furnished nearly 200,000 soldiers to help suppress the War between the States.

As a Territorial executive and administrator the name of Governor Dodge will be foi'ever linked with the political evolution

*Eoosevelt'3 The Winning of the West (Putnam Edition) Vol. IV, p. V.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE xiii

of the Conimonwealths of Iowa and AVisconsin to which he bears the same relation which such Governors as St. Clair, Harrison, and Cass bore to the Old Northwest. These Territories became dowered with nearly fifty years of the political accretions of the Old Northwest, and through the administrations of Governor Dodge partook for several years of the streams of statutes, administrative policies, precedents, and judicial interpretations which had their fountain in the Ordinance of 1787.

This book of biography was begun w^hile the writer was holding the position of Eesearch Assistant in The State Historical Society of Iowa. The sources from which the material was obtained are indicated in the Notes and References at the close of the text. In all quotations the original spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been retained. Chapter I of this volume is a slight recasting of Chapter I of the writer's Augustus Caesar Dodge, while considerable portions of Chapter II of that volume have been literally incorporated into the present work.

In the preparation of this biography the articles on Henry Dodge in the Iowa Hisxiv AUTHOR'S PREFACE

torical Record by the late Dr. William Salter have been found invaluable. It is, moreover, a pleasure to recall the profitable interviews with this Iowa historian at his home in Burlington. Dr. Benj. P. Shambaugh, the Superintendent of The State Historical Society of Iowa and Editor of the loiva Biographical Series, suggested the writing of this book. To him the author is indebted for constant interest and encouragement. Through his labors from the manuscript to the final proof he has contri])uted the best words of advice, suggestion, and decision. The credit of preparing the index is due to Miss Ethyl E. Martin, Clerk to the Superintendent of The State Historical Society of Iowa.

Louis Pelzer

Contents

I. Ancestry and Early Life 1

II. Civil and Milit.iry Matters 1805-1821 16

III. Lead Mining in Missouri, Illinois, and

II

These sixteen years of Dodge's life are tj^ical of the life of an intelligent, aggressive man of southeastern Missouri in the early part of the nineteenth century. This period witnesses the exit of the old Spanish regime, changes in territorial jurisdictions, the effects upon a frontier community of a war with a foreign power, the transition from Territory to Statehood, and the operation of those political and social forces which bore fruitage in the Commonwealth of Missouri. And in all these matters Henry Dodge bore a part.

It will be recalled that what is now the State of Missouri was by the act of March 26, 1804, placed under the jurisdiction of the Governor and Judges of the Indiana Terri- ^QPy 29 Substantially the same five old administrative districts of the Spanish regime were retained and later became known as counties. The District of Ste. Genevieve, the residence of Henry Dodge, thus became a legatee of the political estate of the old Spanish administration as well as that of the Old Northwest Territory. Such is the political background upon which the public career of Henry Dodge is to be sketched.

Late in 1804 and in 1805 a system of local government was established in the Ste. Genevieve District. Courts were organized, public buildings were erected, townships were created, and a system of taxation was inaugurated. There is a record that in March of 1805 Henry Dodge and five others were indicted and convicted of assault and battery. In September of the same year Dodge qualified as Sheriff of the Ste. Genevieve District — an office which he filled for a period of sixteen years.^'*

This was an important office and was vested with a large number of duties and powers. Moreover, in addition to the powers which the office possesses to-day, the Sheriff of Ste. Genevieve was an important official of financial administration, sometimes performing the duties of assessor, collector, and treasurer.^^ In 1805 the total tax levy for the Ste. Genevieve District was $1171.94. Not until 1821 was a court-house built and courts were compelled to meet in the parish house, in the tavern, or in private dwellings. After 1814 the sessions were held at the home of Henry Dodge where testimony was given, arguments heard, and justice rendered.'^"

Such a frontier community, with its sparse settlements and opportunities for the escape of criminals, demanded a Sheriff with energy and decision to hunt down the desperate characters of the District. The two executions made during Sheriff Dodge 's administration were those of Peter Johnson and Charles Heath. Peter Johnson was hanged on August 3, 1810, for the murder of John Spear; and Charles Heath met a similar fate on March 9, 1812, for the murder of Hugh Jones. These were the first legal executions in the histor}^ of the count3\^^

Meanwhile Aaron Burr had, since the smnmer of 1805, been dreaming of conquests and empires far to the Southwest, and in 1806 had made a trip down the Ohio River. Vague rumors were afloat to the effect that Burr was to capture the Spanish province of Mexico, place himself upon the throne, or perhaps annex the province to the United

CIVIL AND MILITARY IVIATTERS 19

States. This enterprise naturally stirred the blood of adventurous characters who would have welcomed a fight with the Spanish Dons. Henrv Dodge and Colonel Jack Smith T. (then a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Ste. Genevieve) constituted a pair of such daring men, and they set out to join the Burr expedition.

Hearing that Burr was to meet recruits at New Madrid, Dodge and Smith floated down to that place in canoes. But upon their arrival they learned of President Jefferson's proclamation which declared the expedition unlawful. ' ' Cols. Smith and Dodge were mortified; sold their canoes, bought horses, and came back home to Ste. Genevieve. When Dodge got to town he found great excitement; the grand jury were in session, and had actually indicted Dodge and Smith for treason. Dodge surrendered himself and gave bail for his appearance. After doing this, Dodge, who considered himself greatly outraged by the action of the grand jury, pulled off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and whipped nine of the grand jurors. Henry Dodge was a tall man, over six feet high, as straight as an Indian, and possessed of great strength. He would have whipped every member of the grand jury if the rest had not run away."^^

Accounts of civil matters touching the life of Henry Dodge during this period are comparatively meagre. During the early years of his term as Sheriff he was one of a party who dismantled an old cannon at Fort Chartres. Embarking upon a keel-boat, which was rowed up the Mississippi River by negroes, they transported the historic cannon to Ste. Genevieve where it often pealed forth in honor of American independence.^^ In 1808 he was one of the twenty-one trustees of Ste. Genevieve Academy.^® Three years later he and John Scott (who was later the Delegate from the Territorv of Missouri) were seconds in a duel between Dr. Walter Fenwick and Thomas T. Crittenden, in which the former was mortally wounded. This duel is typical of the many that occurred on the frontier in which Henry Dodge lived.^'

On June 4, 1812, the Territory of Missouri was created, and in the next year Henry Dodge was appointed Marshal for the new Territory. His commission bore the signatures of President James Madison and Secretary of State James Monroe. In 1806 and 1807 he had held rank in the militia of Ste. Genevieve as Lieutenant and Adjutant, while later he was appointed First Lieutenant and then Captain in the Ste. Genevieve Troop of Cavalry.

A remarkable list^*^ of the commissions of Henry Dodge, preserved by his son and later presented to the Historical Department at Des Moines, Iowa, e]3itomizes the civil and military career of Henry Dodge. These commissions embrace a period of service of over forty years and bear the signatures of presidents, governors, secretaries of state, and other high officials. Indeed, there are few, if any, collections of documentarv historv of the West which can equal this one in unique interest.

Henry Dodge was in his thirtieth year when war w^as declared against Great Britain on June 18, 1812. By experience, taste, and capacity he was fitted to take a useful part in this encounter. Although the people of southeastern Missouri were far removed from the principal theatre of the war they had to participate in several engagements with the Indians and to exercise ceaseless vigilance against this dangerous foe. For vears before 1812 British traders along the Great Lakes and the Northwest had been fomenting dissatisfaction among the Indians and had even supplied them with arms and ammunition. After the declaration of war the British agents of the Upper Mississippi increased their activities in inciting the Indians to war. On September 5, 1812, the Sacs and Foxes of Rock River, assisted by the Winnebagoes under Black Hawk, made an unsuccessful attack on Fort Madison on the Mississippi River.^^ The next year it was twice attacked by marauding bands. "Boone Lick Settlement", consisting of about one hundred and fifty families in what are now Howard and Cooper counties of Missouri, was in a very exposed condition and suffered frequent depredations.

Such events roused Governor William Clark to action, and in 1814 the militia of the Territory was organized. Henry Dodge, on January 17th of that jesiT, had been commissioned Brigadier General of the Territorial militia, and in Ste. Genevieve County he had raised a mounted volunteer rifle company of which he became the Captain.^^ It was evident that a vigorous campaign was to be pushed in order to insure the future peace and safety of the settlers and their property. Waiving his rank as General and taking command as Lieutenant Colonel of mounted men, Dodge was now (in September, 1814) ordered to march to the relief of the "Boone Lick Settlement", which lay along the Missouri River about two hundred and fifty miles to the northwest of Ste. Genevieve where for several vears its one hundred and fifty families had been exposed to Indian dangers.

Dodge's force consisted of three hundred and fifty mounted men, commanded by the following Captains : John W. Thompson of St. Louis, Isaac Van Bibber of Loutre Lick, Hem-y Poston of the Missouri Mining Region, Sarshall Cooper of the "Boone Lick Settlement", and Daugherty of Cape Girardeau. Majors Nathaniel Cook and Daniel M. Boone, Benjamin Cooper (a brother of Sarshall Cooper), and David Barton (later a United States Senator from Missouri) accompanied the force. Besides these volunteers there were about forty friendly Shawnees commanded by four war captains — Na-kour-me, Kish-kal-le-wa, Pap-pi-qua, and Wa-pe-pil-le-se. Both Pap-pi-qua and Wa-pe-pil-le-se were fully seventy years old and had had much service in the "dark and bloody ground".

After several days of steady marching^ ^ they reached the ''Boone Lick Settlement". At Arrow Rock they prepared to cross the Missouri, and Dodge selected six of his most active men for the advance. The others, flanked by canoes, struck through the swift stream and reached the southern bank in safety. Two hours were consumed in crossing with all the horses, baggage, arms, etc.

Meanwhile the Shawnee scouts had found and reported the locality of the hostile Miamis, who had erected a small fort. Dodge urged his men forward several miles up the river and in the night discovered and surrounded the enemy in what is known as Miami Bend in Saline County. Through the Shawnees the Miamis offered to surrender. Dodge now called a council of his officers, who advised that the Indians be received as prisoners and that their lives be sacredly preserved. For the latter, declared Dodge, the officers and their men should be held personally responsible. The Indians numbering thirty-one warriors and one hundred and twenty-two women and children then formally surrendered.

The next morning, when searching for hidden property, the troops found the wellknown rifle of Campbell, the potter, who had been slain by the Indians some months before. The enraged Boone Lick troops now insisted that the murderer be surrendered; and Captain Cooper, at Dodge's refusal, threatened in behalf of his company to kill the whole of the Indians and by common consent his men cocked their rifles. The Indian warriors fell upon their knees and prepared for death. Without turning to the armed men Dodge now drew his sword, thrust the point within six inches of Cooper's breast, and reminded him of the pledge to protect the prisoners. He could not see them slaughtered in cold blood, and declared that if the Boone Lick men fired upon them Captain Cooper should instantly suffer the consequences.

"At this critical moment", reads Draper's notes, "Major Daniel M. Boone came dashing up to Gen. Dodge's side, and said he would stand by him to the last, and he taunted Cooper with the treachery of the act he proposed. Dodge was firm, never taking his eye from Cooper's. Boone presented a determined countenance, as brave men always do when actuated by noble purposes. At length Cooper yielded, and Dodge ordered him to take his place in the line, and march away. He doggedly obeyed, and his men rode by. The Indians now jumped to their feet with expressions of joy and gratitude to Dodge and Boone. The Shawanoes, too, were much gratified that the Miamis were spared."

Twenty-one years later Kish-kal-le-wa visited his old commander at Fort Leavenworth and revived the incidents of this scene in which Dodge had borne a most magnanimous part. In a long retrospect of Indian warfare Dodge could well look upon his conduct in saving these prisoners as one of the happiest acts of his life.

Such was the part of Henry Dodge in the War of 1812. After the treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814, several treaties of peace had to be made with savage tribes which had been in league with Great Britain or at war with the United States. Military men often participated in these treaties for the purpose of impressing the Indians with a military force, of preserving order, and of witnessing the treaty itself. Henry Dodge's knowledge of Indian character, his comprehension of frontier life and conditions, and his military experience well fitted him to take part in treaty-making. The two treaties which he helped to make and to which his name stands as a witness are those between William Clark, Ninian Edwards, and Augnste Chontean, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the chiefs and warriors of the Teton and the Yankton Sionx tribes. These treaties of peace and friendship were signed on July 19, 1815.^-

After the War of 1812 Henry Dodge exchanged the occupation of war for that of lead-mining. Subsequent to the year 1818 there was a persistent agitation for the admission of Missouri as a State. In May of 1820 Henry Dodge was chosen as one of the four delegates from Ste. Genevieve Countv to attend the constitutional convention at St. Louis in the following June. Here he met his former comrades-in-arms, David Barton and Nathaniel Cook, and such men as Nathan Boone and John Scott who were delegates at this convention.^^ The convention adopted the Constitution on July 19, 1820; and Henry Dodge thus witnessed the last and permanent stage in the early political evolution of Missouri.

Ill

Lead-Mining in Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan Teeritory

The earliest movements into what is now Missouri were prompted by the hope of finding mineral wealth; and in this search the French, the Spanish, and the settlers of Illinois had joined. Lead, peltries, and salt were the principal articles of export when Louisiana was first acquired by the United States. As early as 1809 the first shot-tower was in operation at Herculaneum. While the lead was abundant and easily mined the cost of transporting it from the mines to the river had always been a problem.^*

Henry Dodge had grown to manhood in the lead-mining region and undoubtedly had served his apprenticeship in his father's business of salt and lead-mining and in the operation of distilleries. No doubt he had often accompanied Israel Dodge in his trips down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. After the war he had resumed his business of salt-making at the mouth of the Saline River. While this business was profitable, the use of steamboats after 1817 cheapened transportation from the Ohio Valley so that prices declined from $5.00 to $.75 a bushel. In Jefferson County he carried on the business of mining and smelting lead. The old Spanish milled dollars were still in use ; but there was no small coin. "I have frequentty seen my father", said his son Augustus, "go to a blacksmith shop with a bag of silver dollars, and then cut them up into halves, quarters and eighths, for small change. My mother made buckskin pockets in his clothes to carry this fractional currency. "^^

For several years the fame of the Upper Mississippi Lead Mines had been spreading and their steady competition had seriously embarrassed Henry Dodge's fortune. Since 1822 hordes of speculators and squatters from Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and southern Illinois had rushed to the Fever River lead region in upper Illinois. Drawn into this current of migration, Henry Dodge emigrated in 1827^^ with his wife, nine children, and a family of slaves to this new land of opportunity.

Embarking on the "Indiana" the Dodges with other miners soon reached the Rapids of the River Des Moines where they were forced to transfer to a keel-boat. For twenty-four days this primitive craft was rowed and towed against the steady current of the Mississippi by some forty French oarsmen up to Galena — a distance of about two hundred miles. Shovels, picks, buckets, and windlasses were stowed in the boat. The apartments for passengers were crowded; while the food was in keeping with the other discomforts. Montrose and Fort Madison were left behind. Passing the bluffs where now stands Burlington, Henry Dodge little thought that here he would spend his last days and find his final resting-place.^^

Arriving at Galena late in the summer of 1827, Henry Dodge spent several months in prospecting for lead ; and he also assisted in quelling Indian disturbances and outbreaks to be described later. Everywhere he found an enterprising and adventurous set of men. Population was increasing by strides and bounds; labor was scarce and high-priced; and in July, 1828, there was a demand for five hundred men who could find employment at $17 to $25 per month with board.^^ "You cannot get", writes an observer in

December, 1827, ''a hand even to cook or to wait about your house for less than $15 per month in silver"/^

It is likely that Dodge could find no desirable location in the region about Galena ; and so on the 3rd of November, 1827, he established himself near the present city of Dodgeville in what is now Iowa County, Wisconsin — then a portion of Michigan Territory.^^ Such men as Charles Bracken, Ebenezer Brigham, and John H. Roundtree also migrated to the lead region to devote themselves to the lead industry. Henry Dodge was one of the first to build a smelting furnace.^^

"He made friendlv terms with the Indians of the neighborhood", writes Salter, ''and gave them presents as in the way of rent for occupying their lands. He made a home for his family, and took precautions for their protection and safety. More than a hundred miners soon gathered to the 'camp'. The neighborhood resounded with the stroke of the ax and the click of tools. Shafts were sunk in every direction. He discovered the only lode in the region that proved to be of much value. "^-

The political problems of this frontier coiimiimity were the outgrowth of economicconditions. It was inconceivable that the rich lead, deposits could long remain in their virgin state. The trespassing of the squatter miners tended to bring them into conflict with Federal statutes and with the Indians — treaties with whom too often lacked definiteness. Not a little of the activitv of Dodge in the mining district consisted in adjusting his relations with the Federal statutes, with Indian Agents, and with the Indian tribes.

In January of 1828 Joseph M. Street, the Indian Agent at Prairie du Chien, reported to William Clark, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs at St. Louis, that Dodge with about fifty well-armed men had settled upon ground which had been reserved by the treaty of August 24, 1816. ''Many are flocking to him from Fever River", wrote Street, ''and he permits them to join upon pajdng certain stipulated portions of the original purchase. The ore is more abundant, nearer the surface, and obtained with greater facility than ever known in this country. It is said that he has raised about half a million of mineral, smelted from 900 to 1000 bars, and is smelting fift}^ bars a day. With two negro men he raises about 2000 pounds per day. " ^^

Mutterings of discontent now arose among the ¥v^innebagoes whose lands had thus been encroached upon, and Street became greatly alarmed. Sub-Agent John Marsh was sent to notify Dodge to move off instantly if he did not wish to be removed by force. ' ' Gen. Dodge ' ', wrote the sub-agent,^* ''resides in a small stockade fort near the principal mine. There are about twenty log houses in the immediate vicinity, besides several more remote. He has a double furnace in constant operation, and a large quantity of lead in bars and in the crude state. From the best information I have been able to obtain there are about one hundred and thirt}^ men engaged in mining at this place, and completely armed with rifles and pistols. I was also informed that there [were] about fifteen Winnebagoes ten or twelve miles distant who frequently visit the mines, and who have been presented by Gen. Dodge with several hundred dollars worth of provisions and merchandise. When about to return, I was desired by Gen. Dodge to inform you that he should leave the country as soon as he convenient^ could. ' '

Henry Dodge declined, however, to leave the mining region, believing that more definite treaties with the Indians should and would be made in the near future. Although Agent Street had attempted to raise a military force with which to oust him, Dodge and his miners held their ground and remained unmolested. He had not long to wait for the extinguishment of the titles to the Indian lands. Indeed his own name stands appended as a witness to the treaty of August 1, 1829,^^ by which the Winnebagoes sold their lands in the mining district to the United States. The consideration was $18,000 and large quantities of merchandise — both to be paid annually for thirty years.

From Helena on the Wisconsin River he continued to ship lead to New Orleans, as his father Israel Dodge had done thirty years before. These river shipments, made without transferring the cargoes to steamers at St. Louis, required over three months. When the Indian lands came into market he bought more than a thousand acres, and upon this land he lived for nearly forty vears."*^

The increase of population, wealth, and commerce due to the development of the lead industiy now created a demand for a separate Territory. In this demand the inhabitants of the lead region found an able and willing champion in Henry Dodge. Himself vitally interested in the industry he well foresaw that an expanding trade and population would soon require more adequate laws and administration than could be furnished by the Legislative Assembly at Detroit — nearly a thousand miles away. The business relations of the miners were with Missouri, Illinois, and the General Government rather than with the peninsula of Michigan.

To Austin E. Wing, the Territorial Delegate from Michigan, he stated his views in February of 1829." "Taxation and representation should go together," he urged, "and it will readily appear, on examination of the returns made by the superintendent of the United States' lead-mines, that the people of this mining country have paid a greater amoimt of taxes than any equal number of citizens in the United States, or Territories; and that, a direct tax upon the labour of the whole community. " He pointed out that representation was inadequate; that the laws were not adapted to the community; and that the protection from Indians was insufficient.

In 1831 Henry Dodge and Morgan L. Martin were elected to the Fifth Legislative Council of Michigan Territory to represent the whole region west of Lake Michigan ; but the events of the Black Hawk War the next year prevented Dodge from attending the sessions at Detroit.^®

Three days before his election he had again expressed his views concerning the division of the Territory. "Laws then can be made", he said, "suited to the manners, habits, and condition of the people residing within the limits of the contemplated territory. The relation we stand to the General Government makes it important to us that we should have a direct representation at Washington. Living on the United States lands and w^orking their lead mines, it becomes a matter of much interest to the mining country that the rights of pre-emption should be secured to them on the most liberal principles both for the farms they occupy as well as their mineral grounds." ^^

A few months later in behalf of the mining region he prepared and addressed a memorial to the Secretary of War, Lewis Cass, in which he clearly described the situation and the conditions of the citizens living in the mineral region.*'" The United States Government had invited the people to the lead region when it could not give them protection on the frontiers. Indian hostilities in 1827 forced a suspension of work for one year and left them without the means of returning to the communities from which they had emigrated. Under such conditions the people settled upon the mineral lands. Furthermore, he urged, millions of pounds of lead had been given to the United States as rent since 1827. The price of lead had declined, and the memorialists earnestly hoped that the tariff on the article would not be increased.

Should the government decide to survey and then sell the mineral lands, Dodge urged that each miner who had complied with the government laws should be given the privilege of working out all discoveries made on mineral lots or surveys. Without such a reservation miners who have had mineral lands in their possession for years might be left destitute through the purchase of their lands by speculators.

Many events combined to delay for four years the division of Michigan Territory; and in the meantime Henry Dodge's active career in the mining industry ends and becomes transferred for four years to the drillground, the camp, the march, and the field of battle. By the people of the mining country his services were valued and, indeed, happily remembered when in 1836 a Governor for the original Territory of Wisconsin was appointed.

IV Indian Uprisings and Discontent

Since the war of 1812 the General Governnient had enjoyed peace with the Indian tribes, and many treaties of friendship had been negotiated i^rior to 1827 — a year that marks the beginning of a period of spasmodic Indian disturbances with which Henry Dodge's military career becomes linked. A brief retrospect into the causes and conditions of these outbreaks is necessary to secure a narrative of the Indian wars of more than three quarters of a century ago.

By the treaty of August 24, 1816, a division line was run between the lands of the Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawattamies of the Illinois River and those of the Winnebagoes.*^^ This treaty was subsequently reaffirmed by the Winnebagoes in the treaty of August 19, 1825.'' Upon the lands of the former the treaty had allowed (under certain conditions) diggings and settlements to be made. In the years 1825 and 1826 the lead mania was at its height. Diggings were commenced and pushed without regard to the treaty line until at last the mines were in the acknowledged territory of the Winnebagoes.